Farm gate



' Aug. 1, 1950 J. B; CLAY 2,517,086

FARM GATE Filed Jan. 1'7, 1948 INVEN TOR. Joseph 5. Clay BY a? Viz-MW"Patented Aug. 1 1950 UNITED STATES -'-lhiplicationJanuary 17, l 948tserial No. 2;939

A t l l L l Thisinventionrelates to a gate andmarticularly a non-saggate. Y b, :y 1 t l n Amobject of thepresent-inventionis the provision;ofsuch .a gate having certain structural members formed of a novelconstruction.

Another object of e the @present invention is the provision of aagatehavingend uprightstructural members which are tubularin iconstructionpossessing rtheappearanceranmstrength of itubular membersandhavingrportions formed oft-channel shape; the membersthereby,possessingltheradvam .tagesof ohannehmembers. t i

Afurther object is theyprovision of a gate :construction having enduprightmembersland horizontal members L pivoted-tin; the iuprightmembers in which isiprovided a novel L means of alpivotally securing thehorizontal members tinuhthe upright members.

Alstill further object 'ofuthe rinvention is the provision of agateasreferred to :above :having a wire :mesh segment inwwhichythe wireameshiis 1 secured to thewend upright members inta novel manner. t n VStillanother object is theprovisionof spring steel tubular structural:members ofa gate which are slotted longitudinally 1 along one side, the"edges defining the slot being biased together for grip inethe wiremesh. t

A*-sti1l :further object is theprovision of anovel gate structure whichr presents a more finished appearance than i any gate structures"heretofore made. l i

,Withthese and otherobjects in view myinvention consists in theconstruction, arrangement, andcornbination of the variouspart s tofpmy-f arm gate whereby the objects contemplatedare attained, as hereinaftermorelfully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustratecl'in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is aview of "a gatemadejaccordingto thejpresent invention;

"Figure 2 is an enlarged viewtaken'on 1ine"2- 2 ofFigurel; e

Figure 3-is aviewtaken from the left of Figure 2 a part of the figurebeing broken away;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view taken "online IL-4 of Figure l Figurefi isaviewtaken on line 5- -5 of Figure 4;and TFi'gureBiis a sectional viewtaken on'line 6"-B df"'Figure"5L Referring in detail to'the drawings,the gate illustrated in Figure 1 includes end upright tubularmembersl2tand ill-and includes a'lower hori; aontalmember .[6 and-an tupperhorizontal memaolarms." (orgasm-37s) stem or ies f ber IB; [the detailedconstruction of the end members l2 and old and :the manner OfrSBCllT-ingthe: horizontalmembers cit-6 and IBtherein will be referred :tolateriin detail. The members I 2, M6, and I8 form the main structuralmembers of the gate and are included with certain other elements-toimakerup the entire gate. :The uprightend member :12 formscthe hingeend of the gate and is provided with eye bolts 20 for securing thee'gateto alpost'set in the-ground. The tubular end :member I 2 .is ladaptedwtonrotate in the eyes of theieye bolts 2!] whereby the gate as a wholecan swing about the end member [2 as apivotzpoint. i l t i A=wire mesh22containinghorizontal strands 24andverticalstrands 26 is secured in thegate. One end of the mesh is securedin the tubular upright (member M atthe swinging end ofthe gate in a manner to be described later. The otherend of the wire mesh22 is secured in the upright member I2at the hingeend of the gate by means of a plurality of bolts 28 extending throughholes in the tmember 42. The bolts 28 are'secured to the ends of thehorizontal strands 24 and are provided with nuts on the outer endsthereof for purposes of drawing the wire mesh taut. Certain other wiresmay be provided, such as alower; strand 30 below the lower horizontal:memberstfi and upper strands 32 and St. The strands 30532, andj-34 maybebarbed wire if desired to prevent the farm animals from attempting topass overror under the gate. The strands 30 andx32 may be securedin theend members 12 and M in a manner similar to the wire mesh 22. The upperstrand 34 may be simply secured around the caps on the upper ends of theend members I 2 and! 4. An intermediate reinforcing member 36 may beprovided if desired for securing the wire mesh and the other strands ofwire in position in the plane of the gate. For this purpose, the member36 may besecured to the horizontal members "l6 and l8. n t y A guy wire38 is secured to the upper end of the end member [2 at the hinge end ofthe gate and extends diagonally downwardly across the gate At the lowerend of the guy wire 38 is ahook 40 adapted to fit in any of theplurality of holes A2,in-the lower horizontal member l6 adjacent theswinging end of the gate. By placing the hook Allin-different ones oftheholes142, the -gate as a whole canbe tilted upwardly or downwardly. 1The hookrcan be placedin one of theholes nearer the swinging endofcthegate to take up any sag in the gate whi-chlmayoccur aftercontinueduse. i

:Thee end upright members l2 and I dare, for

the most part, identical. A description of the features which both havein common will first be given.

Each vertical member 12 and I4 is illustrated as tubular in formation,having a longitudinal slot or seam 44 on one side thereof, and eachhaving sockets 46 positioned respectively adjacent the upper and lowerend. Each tubular member l2 and I4 is formed of a flat piece of steel,which may be spring steel, semi-spring steel or low carbon, mild steel.I prefer semi-spring steel although it will be understood that otherkinds can be used. Certain holes are pierced in the flat pieces, placedfor proper. positioning in the finished tubular members for use withtheir assembly in the gate.

In the process forming the tubing or tubular members ['2 and M, the fiatpieces are first bent into U-shape, and then the portions 48 which formthe sockets 46 are held in their position, and the remainder of thepieces are formed into tubular shape, forming the slots or seams 44.Thus the portions 48 form the sockets 46 which thereby open from theinterior of the tubular member outwardly in a direction transverse tothe axis thereof.

The vertical members 12 and I4 are positioned in the gate so that theslots or seams 44, and the sockets 46 face inwardly toward each otherand lie in the plane of the gate. The ends of the horizontal members l6and I8 are inserted in meeting sockets 46. The vertical positioning ofthe sockets 48 is such as to position the horizontal members it and 58at the desired levels. The edges or portions 48 of each socket areprovided with pierced holes, referred to above, disposed transverse tothe axis of the tubular member and in register with similar holes in theends of the horizontal members It and l3. Bolts 50 are then passedthrough the registering holes for securing the horizontal members l6 andI8 in the sockets 46. The horizontal members are provided limitedpivotal movement within the sockets, pivoting about the bolts 50.

The edges 48 forming the sockets 46 are curved at their mid portionssimilarly to the curvature of the horizontal members It and I8 which inthe present instance are themselves tubular elements. Although thecurvature of the edges 48' follows closely the curvature of thehorizontal members I6 and [3, the latter are not prevented frompivoting. If desired, the curvature of the edges 48 can be formedfollowing a curvature of a diameter greater than the diameter of thehorizontal members l6 and [8.

The pivotal feature of the horizontal members l6 and 18 in the endmembers l2 and I4 permits the swinging end of the gate to be raised andlowered in the plane of the gate.

Figures 4, 5, and 6 illustrate a method in which the wire mesh 22 issecured in the tubular end member in at the swinging end of the gate.The horizontal and vertical strands 24 and 26 of the wire mesh 22 aresecured together at their points of juncture in the form of twistedknots illustrated at 52. The method of forming these knots isconventional. The ends of the segments forming the vertical strands 26are twisted around the horizontal strands as indicated at 54 and the endof each horizontal strand 24 is bent back over the twisted portion 54 asindicated at 56.

The tubular member !4 is opened up by means of spreading the edgesdefining the slot 44, to an extent substantially the thickness of thestrands 34 or the wi The tubular member is then slid endwise over thewire mesh 22, confining the knots 52 in the end marginal edge of themesh in the interior of the tubular member. Upon release of the edgesdefining the slot, the latter spring together and bias against the wiremesh. The knots abutting against the edges defining the slot preventsthe wire mesh from being drawn out of the slot.

The bottom strand 20 and the strand 32 may be secured in the tubularmember l4 in a similar manner.

Figure 2 illustrates the slot 44 closed immediately adjacent the socket46. This is merely a representation of the slot, and if the wire mesh orother strands of wire are positioned closely adjacent the socket, theslot may not close up entirely, but be spread slightly as indicated inFigure 4.

Certain of the pierced holes referred to above occur in the finishedtubular member 12 at the hinge end of the gate, properly located forreceiving the bolts 28.

' It may be noted at this point, that all necessary holes in eithertubular member l2 or 14, may be formed in a single operation, before theflat pieces are shaped into tubular form. Obviously the holes can beformed by any desired method, by piercing, drilling, etc.

It will be understood that the wire mesh'and individual strands of wiremay be secured in the tubular member [2 in a manner similar to themanner of securement at the swinging end, although I prefer to employthe bolts 28 for purposes of retaining the wire taut.

It will be seen that the tubular members [2 and I4 possess substantiallyall of the strength and appearance of conventional tubular elements.They are also advantageous in being provided with the novel sockets 46for reception of the horizontal members and, for this reason, possessthe advantages of channel members. The manner of concealing the ends ofthe horizontal members l6 and I8 and the ends of the wire mesh and otherwire strands presents a pleasing appearance that has not beenaccomplished in gates of this type before.

It will also be evident from the foregoing that the gate constructionpossesses economy due to the simplicity in construction and method ofsecuring the various elements together.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my gate without departing from the real spirit and purpose ofmyinvention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims such modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents as may be reasonablyincluded within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. A gate comprising, in combination, a pair of spaced,vertical, tubularmembers of semi-spring steel, each tubular member being slottedlongitudinally on one side thereof, the edges defining each slot beingseparable and tending to spring together, portions of the edges definingeach slot being permanently deformed and spread apart relatively to eachother to form sockets, horizontal members having their ends pivoted inrespective sockets, connecting the vertical members together, and wiremesh secured in the gate, said wire meshincluding transverse strandsinterconnected in knots, said wire meshhaving one end thereof andcertain of said knots extending into the slot in one of said verticalmembers and retainedtherein by the edges defining the 1 slot springingtogether 'andbearing on said knots, and means cooperable with theopposite one of said vertical members for securing the respective end ofthe wire mesh and drawing the wire mesh taut.

2. A gate comprising, in combination, a pair of spaced, vertical tubularmembers, each tubular member being slotted lonigtudinally on one sidethereof, the edge defining each slot being separable and tending tospring together, portions of the edges defining each slot beingpermanently deformed and spread apart relatively to each other to formsockets, said sockets being substantially tubular with their axesdisposed perpendicular to the axis of the respective vertical tubularmember, each socket being of the same transverse dimension as thevertical tubular member throughout a substantial portion 01' the socket,the edges defining the sockets merging into the edges defining the slotsand the slots extending into close proximity with the sockets,

horizontal members having their ends pivoted in respective sockets,connecting the vertical members together, and wire mesh secured in thegate, said wire mesh including transverse strands interconnected inknots, said wire mesh having one end thereof and certain of said knotsextending into the slot in one of said vertical members and retainedtherein by the edges defining the slot springing together and bearing onsaid mots, and means for securing the opposite end of the wire mesh tothe opposite vertical tubular member.

JOSEPH B. CLAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

